Try, and Try Again, Until It's Right
by ThatGuyWithHats
Summary: After giving it some thought, Laney finally tells Corey how she feels, but how will he react? What will they have to go through? How will things end for the two? And why is Larry involved in all of this? Rated T for later in the story. Corey x Laney
1. Chapter 1

**Grojband and its characters belong to Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton**

**Authors note: Hello there. This is my first fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy reading it. Anyway, on with the story**

***No Pov***

It was a regular day in the town of Peaceville, it was the middle of Autumn, and the leaves on the trees were turning a beautiful mix of orange and red leaves and the air was fresh and cool around town.

It was still early in the day, people were still waking up, and it was quiet. One of the residents of the town, Laney Penn, was still in her sleep, dreaming.

"Beep Beep Beep!" the noise of her alarm clock rang loud, filling the room with high pitched noise. The alarm was soon silenced by Laney slamming her hand on the snooze button. The young, 15 year old girl got up from her bed, annoyed that she had to wake up so suddenly, but joy soon filled her heart as she realized what day it was.

Today was a Saturday, which meant a variety of things, no school, no homework, and it meant she got to spend time with her band mates, specifically, her long time crush, Corey Riffen. Yes, it was true, she has had a crush on him since they were little, but there was no way she was going to tell him, at least, not until the time was right.

***Laney's Pov***

I quickly took a shower, made myself presentable and made my way downstairs. My mom was down there waiting with a plate of pancakes and a glass of orange juice, thank you mom.

"Good morning Laney," my mother sang.

"Good morning mom, thanks for the breakfast," I said while taking the plate to the kitchen table.

"So Laney, you seem happy today, going to spend the day with the band today, or are you going to flirt with Corey?"

I nearly choked on my food when she asked that. My mom knew about my crush on Corey, she and my father were the only people that I have told, either way, it was still embarrassing to talk to them about it, my father must have been asleep still, thankfully.

"Mom, you can't just ask questions like that, especially when I'm eating," I said.

"Can't a mom be curious about her daughter's love life?" she asked jokingly while taking the seat next to me.

"It's not like he likes me back," I said. A look of shock appeared on my mothers face.

"Laney Penn, don't you dare talk like that, it's that kind of thinking that will get you nowhere, you have to think positively!"

"I'm sorry mom, you're right," I said while putting the dishes in the dishwasher and sitting back down at the table. My mom sat closer to me.

"Listen Laney, no matter what happens between you and Corey, you two will still be best friends. Don't bring yourself down, and if you really like him, you should just tell him, even if you don't get the answer you want, you'll still get an answer, and that is pretty good too," my mothers words of encouragement made me smile, she always was good with words.

"I know mom, and I'm trying, it's just that, Corey is different, I care about him a lot, and if there is a chance for us, I really don't want to mess it up, but I get what you mean, the sooner I tell him, the sooner I'll know," I looked down at my hands, avoiding eye contact.

"Laney, I know how you feel, how do you think it was between me and your father," my mother paused to think about the story. "I was the most popular girl in school, and your father was... a nerd, but a cute and nice nerd, one day, he worked up the courage to ask me out, and I said yes, and I've been happy ever sense," she looked happy to talk about her high school days.

"I swear mom, you've told me that story a thousand times, and each time, it's still a cute story," she giggled at the remark.

I got up and looked at the clock. It was 10:00 already, I was usually at Corey's by 8:00, and practice started at 9:00. I was the bands manager after all.

"Wow I have to go, see you later mom," I made my way to the front door and opened it, but before I left, I turned back to my mother. "Also, thanks for the talk mom, it helped."

"Anytime Laney. Next time, we can talk about grandchildren, I'm not getting any younger you know," she said. I could feel my face turning red.

"Mom, that's embarrassing!" she started laughing hysterically and I couldn't help but laugh too.

I closed the door and started running to Corey's house.


	2. Chapter 2

***Corey's Pov***

"Where is she?" I asked while pacing back and forth in the garage. "She's never this late, she should be here by now."

I was getting impatient. A little annoyed, but mostly worried.

The twins, Kin and Kon, were sitting on the couch watching TV, as they waited for Laney to arrive so we could start band practice.

"Relax Corey, I'm sure she has a reason for being late," Kon said, trying to reason with me.

"Yeah Corey, I mean, it's not like she got kidnapped on the way over here, got beat up and is being tortured and the only hope in her mind is the hope that we save her before she gets killed or that the relief of death reaches her before she endures even more pain. I mean come on, that's crazy," Kin said, adding to Kons comment. My heart began to race as the thought processed in my head.

"That thought hadn't even crossed my mind! That's it, I'm going to look for her," I made my way to the garage door, and opened it, but at the entrance, was the exact person I was waiting for.

"Core, I... can explain... I...," The red headed girl looked tired, she probably ran the whole way here, she was panting like crazy. Her house wasn't a long ways away, but it was still exhausting to run non-stop.

"Sit down Lanes, you look tired," the twins got off the couch to let Laney sit, after a few minutes, she regained her breath and normal heart rate.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I must have over slept, the alarm clock didn't wake me up on the first ring," Laney explained to us.

"Don't worry about it Lanes, I know you would never forget about the band," I said.

"Maybe you're just tired from school, you should really take better care of your sleep hours. You had us worried, especially Corey, he was freaking out," Kin said.

My eyes must be playing tricks on me, because I thought I saw Laney blush. I ignored the thought, it was probably just in my mind.

"So what if I was worried," I started saying as I climbed onto the Grojband stage, "it's a leader's job to worry about his crew. We are like a truck, a truck filled with awesome music, and if there is something wrong with one of the tires, then we stop and fix it," my friends gave me a small round of applause.

"Nice speech Corey," Laney said sarcastically.

"What can I say, I practice," I said while reaching for my guitar, "speaking of practice, are we ready to rock out?!"

"Yeah!" the rest of Grojband cheered. We all grabbed our respective instruments and started to practice.

...

***No Pov***

It was 3:00, after practice. The teens were all relaxing, since practice was over. Kin and Kon were playing ping-pong, Laney was reading her book, and Corey was lying on the stage, bored out of his mind.

"Lanes, help me not be bored," Corey said. Laney closed her book to help Corey.

"Well, we could watch a movie, you guys up for it?" She said, asking the twins.

"Yeah, but what movie?" Kon asked.

Kin got up and looked through the pile of movies to select one. "Hey, we should watch this again," Kin said while holding up a movie, "The Gods of Rocklympus".

"I like the movie, but didn't we watch that movie last week?" Laney asked, not wanting to watch the movie again.

"Yeah but, it's still the best movie we have," Kin said while inserting the disc into the old DVD player.

As much as Laney wanted to stay, she also really didn't want to watch the movie again. So she decided to pack up and to go home till the next day.

"Well I'm off guys, see you tomorrow," and with that, Laney left.

Corey was a little disappointed that she was leaving early, but he understood. He didn't want to see the movie again either, but doing nothing was a way worse option.

Besides, he still had tomorrow to be with his band.

"Hey guys, do you think Laney acts a bit weird sometimes?" Corey asked the twins.

"What do you mean, she seems just the same as always," Kin replied as he grabbed the remote to start the movie.

"Well, sometimes, when I talk to her, she stutters and her face turns red. Is that normal, or is that just a girl thing?"

Kin smiled as a devious idea popped into his mind, "Sounds to me like Laney might have a thing for you, Corey,"

"What?! No, that's crazy!"

"Is it really that crazy, Corey? The way you describe it, it would make perfect sense," Kon said, supporting his brothers idea.

"Also, you two would look cute together, don't you think," Kin said, making sure to poke at Corey more.

Corey started to think about it. Had he really not noticed it until now? Maybe it was the lack of recent gigs that was letting Corey finally notice this, either way, it was confusing.

The twins decided that they shouldn't test Corey further, they didn't want to make him angry. Corey was a very chill guy, there were only a few times they had seen him angry, and they didn't want to add to the list.

"There's no way she likes me, we're just friends," Corey thought, assuring himself.

Although content with his reasoning, he continued to ponder the possibility. "What do I do if she does like me like that?"


	3. Chapter 3

******Authors note:** Glad to see some of you are the enjoying the story so far. If you think there is something I need to work on, feel free to tell me. Now on with the story

***No Pov***

Laney decided that it was too early to return home, there wasn't much to do home. So instead, she went to one of her favorite places in town. The Peaceville music store. They had everything there, from what's hot and new, to retro music. By how often she went there, you would think she worked there. In fact, why didn't she?

The music store was her favorite place to buy things that the band needed, they always had a great selection of equipment. Except for that one time Corey bought a dead raising Amp.

Laney took a quick look around, but there was no new music and nothing worth buying. "Hey, anything new today?" she asked the cashier, who only shock her head. Laney decided to leave since, one, she didn't have money, and two, there was nothing of interest there.

She was making her way to the exit when she ran into someone familiar. Her Newman rival, Larry Nepp.

This can't be good.

***Laney's Pov***

I was making my way to the exit when I ran into Larry. Great, it was just my luck to run into him now. At least his band wasn't here with him either.

Larry and I weren't exactly on good terms, being part of each others rival band and all. His band and mine were usually par with each other, sometime Grojband was better, and sometimes the Newmans were better, and we both hated it.

"What are you doing here, Larry?" I asked, already annoyed by him just being here.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? It's a music store, what else would I be doing, I'm checking out the music," He was just as unhappy to see me as I was. "Why are you here without you band?" Larry asked.

"I don't have to answer that, besides, I have to get home," I didn't want to talk to him anymore than I already did, so I started making my way to the exit, but as I was going, Larry said something that made me stop in my tracks.

"Well, I would think you would at least be here with your crush, Corey."

I couldn't have heard correctly, right?

"You... you know?" I asked, already afraid of the answer. I felt like I was going to throw up. This was the worse possible situation to be in. Your worst enemy knowing your deepest secret.

"Well, you aren't great at hiding it, I'm honestly surprised no one else can see it," Larry said. I just stood there, in silence, frozen.

"Please, don't tell anyone." I pleaded.

"I wasn't going to, it's not worth my time," Larry replied.

"Wait, you're not? Why?" I almost shouted.

"I have nothing to gain from it, and I would have thought you'd be happy to know your secret was safe, or do you want me to tell."

"No! I am relieved, it's just that... I'm surprised, considering we're enemies, I thought you would tell." We both made our way out of the music store, deciding to continue the conversation outside.

"Listen, and listen closely Laney. I know what you're going through, and all I can say is that you need to tell him, soon," He said sternly.

I was confused, was he giving me advice, and more importantly, why was I listening?

"The longer you wait, the harder it will be to keep this a secret, and the worse the outcome will be," Larry had an odd look in his eyes, it looked like a look of concern and worry.

"Don't forget what I said, or else I'll tell him myself. Do I make myself clear?" I nodded in reply.

"Good, now then, I'm going to head home. Good luck," he turned his back on me, "you're going to need it," Larry began walking in the opposite direction I was going to go, slowly leaving my sight.

Great, now I was caught between a rock and a hard place, either confess myself, or have someone else do so, either way, I was going to have an answer soon.

I began walking home with a one question stuck in my head, "what did he mean, _I know what you're going through_?"

...

It was evening when I got back home. Dinner was ready, so I ate with my parents. My parents asked about how my day was, my mom making sure to put focus on Corey. My mom and dad always liked teasing me about Corey. Especially my dad, sometimes he seemed to be more obsessed with it than my mom.

Weird, love crazed parents.

After dinner, I said good night to my parents and went upstairs into my room for the rest of night. I prepared myself for sleep and set up cloths for tomorrow.

My room was not what you would expect from someone like me, it was pink and frilly for the most part, but also decorated with poster of various bands and the Grojband logo that Corey made. I had a small TV in my room so I could check if there was anything on at the moment, but instead I decided to listen to music.

I checked my phone to see if I had any text, but I didn't. The boys must have still been watching the movie, or maybe they were busy with something else. With that in mind, I slowly drifted off into sleep while listening to some of my favorite music from past gigs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: I just wanted to say sorry if I don't update fast. School can pile up a lot, so that is first priority, but I will always try to update on weekends or when ever I can. So review if you want to, I really appreciate it, and have a great day.**

***Laney's Pov***

It was 3:00, Sunday afternoon. Practice was already finished, and now everyone was bored.

With nothing to do, Kin and Kon were having a staring contest, and Corey and I were watching them. Definitely not the best way to spend the weekend.

"This is boring, why are there no gigs. Is nothing happening in town today? This isn't normal." Corey said annoyed.

Corey was right, why wasn't anything happening today? Between evil robots, evil guitars, evil aliens, evil plants, and Trina. Peaceville was definitely a weird and dangerous place, but I guess today was an actual normal day, weird.

"Well maybe this is a good thing, today we can just relax. No need to rush for lyrics, no plotting against the Newmans. Just a beautiful, calm day," I said. "Who knows, maybe a day off is just what we need."

To be honest. It was stressful booking gigs, making sure everything was okay, and writing lyrics. So I was happy for a day off, it definitely didn't happen often enough.

Corey had started writing his own lyrics not too long after Trina left for college, but I still had to help him if we were ever going to finish any songs in time for a gig.

"Well, even so, there has to be something else to do instead of this," Kin said, referring to the staring contest

"You blinked!" Kon shouted at his brother.

"Did not!"

The boredom must have been getting to them, they would never argue about something as pointless as this. Then again, they were Kin and Kon.

"Grojband! As leader, I say this calls for a trip to the Peaceville park, who's up for it?" Corey asked.

"Anything is better than doing nothing. I'm in, what about you guys?" I said, asking the twins

"Sorry, no can do. Today is Sunday, and you know what that means" The twins faced at each other, looking excited, "Super Pizza Sunday!" the twins shouted in unison. There was no way they were going to skip "Super Pizza Sunday," to go to the park.

The twins packed up their things and got ready to leave, "bye, we'll see you two at school tomorrow," The twins said as they left, leaving me and Corey.

"Well, we better go now, we don't wanna have to walk home in the dark," Corey said as I put on my sweater, it was probably going to be cold later.

"So Core, have any plans for what we're going to do at the park?" I asked, now that the twins were gone, the park would be the perfect time to tell Corey how I felt.

"Not really, like you said, today is just a day for relaxing," Corey said. It was odd seeing Corey so relaxed, he was always hyper, always had some crazy idea, always did things fast, not wanting to waste time. It was nice seeing his like this.

**-At The Park Transition-**

The park was beautiful today, the leaves were colorful, the air was nice, and there was barely anyone at the park. Autumn has always been mine and Corey's favorite time of the year, it was always so refreshing, not too cold, not hot, not too bright. It was perfect.

Corey picked up one of the red leaves, "look Lanes, it's your hair," Corey chuckled.

"Oh ha ha Core," I said as I tripped Corey. He fell into a pile of leaves, I had to admit, it was too funny not to laugh.

"Very funny," Corey said. I then felt something grab my arm, "now it's my turn," he said as he pulled me into the mess of leaves.

We laughed, it was just like when we were little kids. I stopped laughing as soon as I realized I was on top of Corey, our faces were close to each other. I got off as quick as I could.

"Sorry about that," I said as I started cleaning the leaves off me. I could feel my face burning up.

"Don't be, it was funny," Corey said with a smile.

We continued to walk until we got to the swings. "Hey Lanes, get on the swings, I'll push you," Corey said. I didn't want to get on, but saying no to Corey was way to hard, especially with his smile. Man, I should really work on that.

I got on one of the swings. "Hey Lanes, are you okay, you look really nervous?" I guess he must have noticed.

"Yeah, it's fine, I'm just a bit scared of heights," I said. Heights weren't exactly what I was afraid of. The idea of falling was what really frightens me. What if I fell and got hurt? What if...

"Don't worry, Lanes. I won't let you fall, and if you do, I'll catch you," Corey said. He always had a way of making me feel safe.

It was fun being on the swings. To let the air breeze through my hair, to let myself laugh, not caring who heard, and to feel safe, knowing that my best friend wasn't going to let me be hurt, that he would be there to help me and pick me right back up. I always cherished these moments.

The rest of the visit was normal, we just talked about funny things, music, and school. You know, teenager stuff. The time went by fast and before we knew it, it was 6:00 and we had to go back home.

"Wow, look at the time," Corey said while looking at his watch. "We better head back home, before our parents get mad."

While on our way back home, the town was starting to get darker and the street lamps were turning on to light our path. The wind had also picked up a little speed and people were already starting to go into their homes.

Strange, it's not always this dark at night and the it's generally not very windy in Peaceville. I looked up and saw the reason for this. From the time that we arrived at the park to now, the sky had filled up with huge, dark rainclouds.

Although it may not be the best setting, I decided that If I was going to tell him, it had to be now. No matter how nervous I was, I had to take this leap of faith.

"Core, can we talk about something?" I asked. No more hiding.


	5. Chapter 5

***Laney's Pov***

"Core, can we talk about something?" I asked.

"Talk about what? Music, gigs, the band, or what?" Corey asked.

"No Core, it's something personal, not band related," I said.

"Well sure, go ahead Lanes, I'm all ears." Corey was sort of the worst person to crush on, considering how clueless he can be. So I knew this was going to be hard to explain, so where do I start?

"Have you ever been afraid of asking for something you want?" I asked him. He only responded with a confused look on his face, I guess I should have expected that, I was being too vague. I had to put it in words he would understand.

"I mean like... you want to play an instrument, but you're afraid that you won't be good enough for the instrument, or that someone else will get the instrument before you, so afraid that you never even try," I knew how it felt to be afraid of this, I have been, for years.

"I guess I know how that feels. It's scary, but sometimes you just have to go for it, and never look back," Corey said, I guess he didn't feel as scared as me. "So why do you want to talk about it?" Corey asked.

"Well Core, it's just that. I feel this way about someone, someone very important to me. He makes me happy, his confidence, his smile, the way he always has some crazy idea, everything about him, even the bad things, and I'm finding it hard to tell him how I feel," I said.

"I don't think I get what you mean, can you explain more?" Wow, is he really this oblivious. I mean it's been bad before but not this bad.

"It's just that he's a really close friend too, and I'm afraid that if I tell him, he'll resent me for it and I'll lose what I have with him," I finished explaining.

"Well maybe you should just tell him anyway, if he doesn't like you, he's not worth it. Any guy would be lucky to be that important to a rocking girl like you, Lanes," Corey said, making my face burn up.

"Anyway Lanes, I hope it works out between you and him, whatever it is that needs to work out," Corey said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "So, tell me Lanes, who's this guy?"

"Well Core, that's the thing, the guy is...," I paused as I looked him in his eyes. "You, Corey," Corey must've been surprised by this, because he took a step back, almost as if it was out of fear.

"Me? I'm the guy? What does that mean, why am I this special person to you?" He asked cautiously.

I was trying to tell him, but I was getting nervous, I was getting scared. Dang it, I wish I was as good with my words as my mother.

"It's just that I.." The words were too hard to say, It felt like I was going to choke on them. It felt like the weight of the world were resting on these words. To me, these words did mean the world.

"I..." Why was I doing this? What will the future hold even if I confess, how will I be rewarded? Do I deserve to be rewarded? Why wasn't I ready yet, to accept my fate? I wanted to hide, I wanted to disappear, anything, just to get out of this situation.

No! No more hiding, no secrets, just the truth. If I couldn't make myself say these words, I would regret it for as long as I lived. If I couldn't tell him how I felt how could this work between us.

In the end, there's a final decision we all must make, a decision that will mean so much to us. Right now, this was my time to make or break and I couldn't look back on it anymore.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a deep breath as I managed to say the words that I had been holding in for so long. The words that I knew were near and dear to my heart.

"I love you, Corey."

Time stood still in that moment. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my heart, years of holding in those words, all gone with a few words.

Now it was his turn. This would all be over soon, one way or another.

**Author's note: I'm really glad you guys and gals like the story so far. Also, sorry for the short chapter, it's meant to lay the foundation for the next chapters where things finally start happening. Anyways, review if you want, I really appreciate it, and have a great day.**


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